International Journal of Sub-Saharan African Research (IJSSAR)

Background: The rise of social media comes with it the opportunity to influence political communication. This is because of the ease with which social media help political leaders to access their followers and the citizenry to participate in the political process. There is therefore the need to understand the direction of research regarding social media and political communication in Africa in relations to mostly the developed world.
Objective: Based on this, the researchers conduct a comparative analysis of how scholars have investigated the subject of political communication and social media use in Africa and other parts of the world.
Method: To do this, the researchers employed a systematic review which analysed empirical articles in the said area among African and non-African States from 2015 to 2024. The study was conducted qualitatively and quantitatively. Findings: Findings show that, even though the phenomenon is developing faster in the Western world, it is also a growing occurrence in Sub-Saharan Africa with recent political activities and discourse being directed by social media. Also, results suggest that X and Facebook are the most used social media platforms by the reviewed articles. Four dominant themes emerge in the analysis, which are ‘misinformation and deception,’ ‘bias and polarization,’ ‘political agenda setting and public opinion,’ and ‘political engagement and interactivity.’ It is observed that the African studies project the positive use of social media in the political discourse more than the non-African studies which focus more on the negative impact.
Conclusion: The researchers conclude that social media use is fast becoming a major political communication tool globally with growing interest in Africa, which has capacity to influence the political discourse positively and negatively.
Unique Contribution: This study adds to studies in the area of social media use and political communication by observing how the phenomenon is unfolding in Africa as compared to other prats of the world, mostly the Western nations. This would help to place in scholarship the extent to which Africa is adapting the phenomenon viz-a-viz the state of adaptation by other countries of the world.
Key Recommendation: Having determined the extent of use of social media in Africa, the researchers recommend further studies into the use of social media and traditional communication in Africa. This would help to reveal the extent to which modern communication technology is influencing the ethnic discourse in the various societies of Africa.